


Weekend at Kelly's

by amirosebooks



Series: Feels Like Home [3]
Category: Cut & Run - Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux
Genre: Banter, Fluff, M/M, Public Sex
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-01-28
Updated: 2014-01-28
Packaged: 2018-01-10 09:50:10
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 18,290
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/1158193
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/amirosebooks/pseuds/amirosebooks
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>When the Sidewinder boys return from their deployment they decide to surprise Kelly--who hadn't been able to go with them--by showing up at his home in Colorado for a weekend of shenanigans. This fic features some Nick and Kelly relationship status angst. Ty finding out that they're together. Sidewinder being Sidewinder. Some loving, sexy-times with Nick & Kelly and even a few moments with Ty & Zane.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

_Early September 2012_

Ty blinked heavily, trying to focus on the road ahead of them, he was exhausted from the cross country travel. They had only been back for a week from their unexpected deployment when Nick had gotten the idea they should all get together and visit Kelly. Ty would much rather have been sleeping in his own bed, with Zane, but he had been overruled once Nick mentioned the trip to Zane. Ty had spent much of the last couple years trying to get Zane and Nick to remain civil with one another. That plan had back fired spectacularly. Zane and Nick were quickly becoming best friends, going so far as to recommend books to each other and share their zombie plans. _Ridiculous_. Ty supposed it was better than the two of them wanting to kill each other.

They had all arrived in Colorado the evening before. Ty and Zane had shared a hotel room with Nick, Owen and Digger had shared another. Zane and Nick spent most of the night talking to each other quietly while messing around doing who knew what on their iPads while Ty tried to sleep. They had intended to leave early that morning for Kelly’s, but Zane and Nick decided they wanted to visit some giant, historic used bookstore. For hours. They didn’t end up leaving Denver until mid afternoon because they were both too busy loading up on books neither of them needed. 

Ty glanced at Zane in the passenger seat beside him, taking in Zane’s contemplative expression. Every once in a while Zane would hold up his phone to snap a picture of trees, mountains, goats, moose or whatever the hell it was that caught Zane’s attention. 

Owen and Digger were talking quietly in the back of the SUV. Nick seemed to be getting tenser as they got further along on their trip. Ty figured his knee was giving him problems again with the change in elevation.

Ty brushed the back of his fingers along Zane’s arm. “Talk to me, darlin.’”

Zane blinked and visibly tried to pull himself out of his thoughts. Ty smiled. He knew that no matter how many years they had together, he would always find Zane’s ability to get lost in his head endearing. A slow smile spread across Zane’s face that made Ty’s heart stutter. It amazed him that just one look from the man, even after knowing each other for this long, could sent his pulse racing and flush his skin with heat. 

“What would you like me to talk about?” Zane asked.

“What’s on your mind?” Ty asked with a smile. “What do you think of the view?”

Zane was quiet for a few moments, brow furrowed. Ty could tell he was trying to pin down his thoughts. Finally, he seemed to have decided on something specific to say. "Did you know that geologists theorize that the Appalachian Mountains might be the oldest mountain range on Earth?"

"Yes, Zane," Ty sighed. There went Ty’s hope that they could have a conversation about something that wasn’t geeky facts driven. Ty was still amazed that Zane could look at a view like this and be more focused on tidbits of information than just taking it all in. But that was one of the things Ty loved most about Zane, regardless of how he may say otherwise. "I grew up in West Virginia, remember? I was climbing those mountains when I was in diapers."

"Are you trying to tell us that you don't wear diapers anymore, Grady?" Owen asked from the back. "Because I don't recall you being housebroken yet."

"Asshole, I will throw you out of this car." Ty growled back. Nick and Digger chuckled in the row of seats behind Ty. Zane's shoulders shook gently as he tried to contain his laughter. Ty glared at him. "This is your fault."

"You baited them, I had nothing to do with it." Zane replied with his hands raised in a calming gesture, a playful smile tugging at his lips. Ty huffed at him and returned to watching the road. “Anyway, did you know the reason the Rocky Mountains are so much more jagged and higher than the Appalachians is because they’re a younger mountain range?” Ty sighed loudly and pretended not to listen. 

“Hey Garrett,” Nick chimed in from the backseat. “Did you know that Colorado contains 75% of the land area of the U.S. with an altitude over 10,000 feet?”

“No, O’Flaherty, I did not know that.” Zane replied, his voice light with amusement. “Were you aware that the world's largest flat-top mountain is in Grand Mesa, Colorado?”

“I did not know that.” Nick said, barely keeping laughter out of his voice.

Ty groaned and shook his head. All he wanted was a lazy weekend in his own bed with Zane before either of them had to go back to work. What did he get instead? His lover and his best friend dragging him across the country, and conspiring together to drive him nuts the whole way. “Is this what you two were up to last night when you were giggling gleefully over shit on the iPad until the wee hours of the morning? Learning facts about Colorado, that no one cares about, so you could drive me crazy?”

Zane sniffed indignantly, “I have no idea what you’re talking about.”

“Ty, I’m beginning to think that you don’t appreciate the fact that Zane and I spent countless hours doing extensive research in order to expand your knowledge base.” Nick said.

Ty rolled his eyes and was about to tell them both to shut up when a shout came from the backseats.

“Dammit, Digger.” Ty caught sight of Owen and Digger in the rear view mirror while they had some sort of wrestling match in the back. “Quit playing with that lighter before you kill us!”

“I’m not _playing_ with it.” There was a metallic click followed shortly by a flick-whoosh and another click. “If I was playing with it, I’d be doing this.”

Owen shouted again. Sounds of their struggle and Nick’s giggling filled the SUV.

“You bastard! Quit trying to light me on fire.”

“I wasn’t _trying_ to light you on fire. If I was I would-”

“Children!” Nick cut them off.

Ty snickered. Zane shook his head, Ty noticed a mischievous smile spread across his lover’s features.

“Hey, O’Flaherty,” Zane turned in his seat. “Ty and I got a lot of practice tying suspects up in the back of cars on our last road trip. Want me to show you what we learned?” 

“You know, Garrett, that would be a useful skill to have.”

“If you fuckers try to tie me up I will kick your asses!” Zane and Nick actually giggled in response to Owen’s threat. Ty shook his head. _Never a dull moment_. 

They returned to the relative silence. Disturbed only by the click. flick-whoosh. click. sound coming from Digger as he continued playing with his lighter. Ten minutes later they pulled off the highway and were winding their way down Kelly’s street. 

When they reached Kelly’s driveway Ty noticed the gate was pulled shut, blocking their path. _The gate is new_ , Ty cocked his head to the side, _Kelly must have put it in after the Marine waltzed onto his property to call Nick back into service._

“Hey, Irish,” Ty frowned. “You told Kelly we were coming, right?”

“No, but I have a key for the gate.”

Before Ty could respond, Nick was out the door and fiddling with the lock on the gate. They pulled past and Nick made sure it was secure again before hopping back into the SUV. Once he was settled again Nick stared out the window, thumb playing with his bottom lip. Ty looked over at Zane who raised a questioning eyebrow.

“Why didn’t you tell Kelly that we’re coming?” Ty asked, his voice edging into concern. “Have you talked to him at all since we got back?”

“I talked to him when we first got in, just to let him know we were all safe.” Nick shook his head and met Ty’s eyes in the mirror. “I haven’t been able to get through to him for the last three days.”

“Three days!” Owen leaned forward in his seat to get a better look at Nick. “You haven’t been able to reach Doc for three days and you didn’t think to mention that?”

Zane raised a hand in a calming gesture. “Has anyone else been able to talk to Kelly in the last few days?”

“I talked to him four days ago.” Digger stopped flicking the lighter while he thought. “I called him day before yesterday, but it didn’t go through. Figured he was sleeping or something. Forgot to call him back after that.”

Zane turned back to Ty. “Should we call him?”

“We’re already here.” Ty flexed his fingers around the steering wheel. “We’ll just knock on the door to see if he’s home.”

“What if something happened to him?” Zane’s voice was cautious. “Or someone came after him?”

“Then we find whoever it was that hurt him, and kill them.” Nick’s voice had reached that creepy level of calm that made Ty glance in the mirror to see if his friend was still mentally there with them. Nick’s serious gaze was fixed on the view through the windshield. Other than a bouncing leg and clenched jaw, he appeared fine. 

When they reached the house the blinds were down on all the windows. Except for the ones looking into the kitchen, those had been stuck halfway up and cockeyed for years. One of the chairs on the porch was knocked over. _Not a good sign_.

“Let’s split up. Nick and I will take the front door.” Ty explained after parking the rental next to Kelly’s beat up Jeep. “Zane, you go with Digger and Owen around back. We’ll ring the doorbell, give it thirty seconds, then you kick in the back door.”

They gathered weapons from their luggage, each of them drawing a gun and made their way toward the house. Once Ty and Nick reached the porch they arranged themselves on either side of the door, guns pointing at the ground. Nick’s brow was furrowed and he kept glancing from the door to the chairs Kelly had on his porch. Ty hoped that they were worked up over nothing. He could already see the guilt weighing in on Nick’s shoulders from the thought of something happening to Kelly, again. 

After waiting enough time for Zane, Digger and Owen to make their way around the back of the house. Ty aimed his gun at the door and nodded at Nick. Nick pressed the doorbell and stepped back, raising his weapon and rolling his shoulders back as they heard shuffling from the other side.

“Well hello, guns!” Kelly’s cheerful voice greeted them from the open doorway. 

Ty and Nick holstered their weapons. A crash from the back of the house signaled Zane, Digger and Owen making their way through the back door. Ty closed his eyes and sighed. 

When he looked back up Nick and Kelly were staring at each other intently. One of Nick’s hands was stretched towards Kelly and they were both smiling.  Ty could have sworn he saw Nick’s eye dragging up and down Kelly’s torso as he took in the fact that Kelly was dressed in only a pair of low slung, threadbare jeans. The whole situation made Ty feel like he was intruding on something, which was weird.

“I take it he’s okay?” Zane chuckled from inside the house as he holstered his own weapon. Owen stood behind him wearing a relieved expression. Digger looked disappointed that he hadn’t gotten to kill anyone. Nick blinked, his attention snapping away from Kelly towards the others standing behind him. Nick rubbed at the back of his neck with one hand and clenched his jaw before turning back to Kelly.

“Why weren’t you answering your fucking phone?” Nick growled.

“What?” Kelly frowned. His hair was mussed like he had just woken up, despite it being the middle of the afternoon, and his eyes were red. The latter probably had something to do with the scent of weed coming from the house. “You guys came all the way to Colorado because I wasn’t answering my phone?”

“No,” Owen shook his head. “We came here because the soulless one was missing his Doc.”

Kelly nodded, then frowned and looked at Nick. “I’m confused.” 

“What Owen was trying to say is that we all decided to come visit you for Labor Day weekend.” Ty said as he looked from Nick to Kelly and back in confusion. “We got worried when we realized no one had been able to get a hold of you in the last three days.”

“Yeah, why the fuck haven’t you been answering your phone?” Nick said.

“Maybe the battery is dead?” Kelly cocked his head. “That could be why it’s been so quiet for the past few days. Huh.”

Nick clenched his teeth and stared at the ceiling. “Where the fuck is your charger? The one I bought for you after Nola.”

Kelly squinted, tongue poking out of the corner of his mouth. “I lost it?”

"I guess this means we didn't need to kick the back door in?" Zane chuckled.

"Wait, you broke my door?" Kelly pinned Zane down with an incredulous look. “Is that what that noise was?”

"It's fine." Digger waved a hand and smiled. Owen stood behind him shaking his head ‘no’ emphatically.

"You're fixing that, asshole!" Kelly pointed at Digger accusingly, as Digger and Owen walked out the front door towards the rental car.

"It's just a little broken." Digger said over his shoulder as he started pulling luggage and groceries out of the car, handing them to Owen. Owen looked back at Kelly again, shaking his head ‘no’ once more.

Nick leaned closer to Zane and nodded his chin at Kelly. "Maybe if we get him stoned, he won't notice."

Kelly spun around to look at Nick again. "Hey, I heard that."

"I know, stoner." Nick growled as he grabbed a bag of groceries from Owen and stalked towards the kitchen. "Go charge your goddamn phone."

Ty exchanged a confused glance with Zane. Kelly stared after Nick, brow furrowed, mouth open. For a moment Ty could have sworn he looked hurt by Nick’s tone, but just as quickly as Ty saw the expression it was gone again. Kelly snapped his jaw shut, blinked and turned to Zane with a grin.

“Want the five cent tour?”

Zane snorted. “Uh, sure.”

Kelly gestured at Zane for him to follow and they disappeared into the depths of Kelly’s house. Ty cocked his head as he watched them go. Turning on his heels, he followed Nick into the kitchen. The sound of a pan clattering onto the stove and cupboards slamming shut greeted him. Nick was stomping around the kitchen, teeth clenched, as he gathered materials to make dinner for the six of them. Ty crossed his ankles and leaned back against one of the counters. 

“Hey Irish,” Ty squinted at Nick. “What the fuck is going on with you and Doc?”

Nick’s whole body tensed and he spun around to face Ty. “Make some noise once in a while so you quit sneaking up on people, Grady! Damn.” 

Ty chuckled and drummed his fingertips on the counter, letting the silence draw out as Nick sliced vegetables. 

After a few minutes Nick tossed the knife down onto the cutting board, braced his hands on the edge of the counter and leaned over, stretching the muscles in his back. While facing the floor he let out a long sigh. “After Nola, when Kelly and I came back here to help him recover.” Nick’s voice trailed off. Silence stretched between them as Nick stood up and began adding the vegetables to the pan on the stove. His voice was even, controlled when he finally continued. “Something happened.”

Ty stared at him. When it became clear that Nick had no intentions of completing that thought Ty raised and eyebrow. “Okay, _what_ happened?” Nick’s eyes flicked towards Ty briefly. “You’re starting to worry me, O. It isn’t like you to get this worked up.” Nick returned to fussing over the food in the pan. Ty was getting agitated, he didn’t like seeing his friends fighting or acting out of character. He growled at Nick, “Why are you pissed at Kelly? Losing things and forgetting to charge shit is all part of his charm. Remember the time he forgot to bring more bandages in his med kit so he ducked into a pharmacy and stole some tampons to stop Owen from bleeding out? That’s what he does.”

Nick cleared his throat. “After Nola, something happened between Kelly and me. Something that…” Nick’s teeth dug into his bottom lip. “That might have been a mistake.”

“Did you guys have a fight or something?” Ty asked carefully.

Nick snorted. “Not exactly.”

Their conversation was interrupted by Owen and Digger barging into the kitchen. “When the fuck will dinner be ready?”

“Go fuck yourself, Owen.” Nick said cheerfully. “It will be ready when the fucking table is ready for six people to sit and eat.” 

Zane and Kelly joined them in the kitchen moments later, Kelly had managed to find himself a t-shirt during the tour. The five of them worked together to set the table and help Nick move the food from the stove to the dining room. 

Once they had all settled, Ty said a few words of thanks as grace and the atmosphere in the room livened up. Digger filled Kelly in on some of the antics they got up to while they were away. Owen and Zane talked about gadgets long enough that Ty thought he might pass out from boredom. Kelly told Zane about the camp that he worked at, Zane offered to come back to Colorado to teach an art workshop for the kids. Nick told them the story of a suspect that had pissed his pants when Nick cornered him in an alley after chasing him through the streets. That launched them all into a discussion about the craziest, funniest things that had happened while pursuing a suspect or a mark. Zane passed his phone around the table to show everyone the picture of Ty covered in condiments from a hot dog cart, while Ty told the story about running after the flasher across Baltimore on his day off.

Off and on throughout the evening Ty would rest his fingers on Zane’s leg, or hold his hand under the table. They had barely stopped touching each other since Ty had come home earlier that week. The separation and struggles they went through before Ty left still weighed heavily on them. He had spent that month in Nola worrying about whether Zane would even want him back after everything they had gone through. Ty had been really worried that after putting himself back together, Zane would realize he didn’t want or need Ty by his side. But they already felt stronger than before and for that Ty was incredibly thankful. 

With his relationship anxieties soothed, at least for the time being, he was able to focus on other worries. Like why Nick and Kelly were acting so strangely. There were a few times during dinner that Ty caught Nick watching Kelly, or Kelly watching Nick. It was never for very long, nor was it very obvious, unless you knew them. Each time one of them would feel the other’s gaze, they would turn and the one doing the staring would immediately look away. Ty didn’t know what to make of it. The tension between them from earlier that afternoon seemed to be dissipating, but they were each carefully avoiding talking to each other. 

Ty chuckled. They were starting to remind him of when he and Zane were first partnered together. Back when they didn’t know whether to punch each other or fuck like bunnies. Which was hilarious, because Kelly was straight and there was no way Nick would make a pass at him like that. Shaking his head Ty wondered idly just how much jet lag he was suffering from when you took into account all of the timezones he had been in recently.

Nick shifted in the seat on Ty’s left. “Shall we divvy up the rooms?”

“No need,” Owen shook his head before pointing a finger around the table as he continued. “Grady and Garrett get the guest bedroom. You and Kelly are sleeping together. Digger and I already set up the air mattress in Kelly’s home gym. We’re good to go.”

Nick choked on the water he was drinking. “Alright then, I’ll be outside. I need some air.” With that he stepped away from the table and made his way out the front door. Ty watched him walk away, puzzled. He hoped that whatever was happening between Nick and Kelly would be resolved soon. 

Eventually, the rest of them gathered plates and began arguing over who would be doing the dishes. According to their longstanding house rules from Sidewinder’s days of living together in Jacksonville, Ty didn’t need to clean up because he had driven them all there. Nick was free to leave because he’d cooked and Kelly owned the house so he was exempt from cleanup, at least for that night. Which left Digger, Owen and Zane to tussle over who got to do what. That ended with Owen washing the dishes, Digger drying and Zane storing leftovers.

When everything was done they gathered in the dining room, armed with drinks, and began discussing how they wanted to spend the rest of the evening.

“You assholes better figure out a way to fix my back door before you go to sleep.” Kelly’s arms were crossed over his chest as he stared the four of them down.

“Why do I have to help?” Ty pointed at his chest. “These idiots were the ones that broke it.”

Zane smacked the back of his head. “You told us to do it. It’s just as much your fault as it is ours.” Ty narrowed his eyes at Zane and huffed. Zane smiled back at him and nudged him towards the rear of the house. 

Owen laughed and waved a hand at Zane. “Come on, I think I remember where the monkey keeps his tools.”

“You going to supervise this job, Doc?” Digger chuckled.

Kelly was already shaking his head before Digger finished talking. “I’m going to go check on Nick.”

As they all parted ways Ty threw once last glance at Kelly as he headed towards the front of the house. For a moment Kelly’s head was down, brow furrowed. His shoulders rising and falling as Kelly breathed deeply and raised his chin. With a determined expression he ducked out the front door. 

Ty frowned. Once again Ty found himself hoping that whatever had happened between them could be fixed, he didn’t want to lose anymore friends.

 

* * *

 

As the front door closed behind him Nick let go of the deep breath he had been holding. Running fingers through his hair, he looked around and righted the chair that was laying on it’s side on the porch. It was the chair Kelly had been sitting in when the Marine had come to call Nick back into service. Nick closed his eyes tightly at that thought, he shook his head and made his way off the porch. 

He didn’t want to think about the time they had spent together after Nola. Memories they’d made haunted him the whole time he was gone on deployment. The feel of Kelly in his arms, the taste of their mouths meeting again and again. Kelly laughing over the simplest of things. Waking up to find his nose pressed into Kelly’s hair or the crook of his neck, like he had been trying to absorb Kelly’s scent in his sleep. 

Nick blinked at the burn in his eyes. Looking up, he found himself standing by Kelly’s car. Though, to be honest, using the term car to describe the beat up Jeep was being polite. 

In the places where the paint still remained it was a strange shade of mustard yellow that car manufacturers had been infatuated with in the late seventies and early eighties. The two doors were gone, Kelly insisted that was on purpose and done so that he could see better when off-roading. Nick knew for a fact that Kelly barely paid attention to where he was driving on surface streets, so Nick doubted the man ever used the lack of doors as tools when frolicking through the forest on four wheels. 

The Jeep was covered in bumper stickers. Some of them were presents from the kids Kelly worked with, others were sent to him by Sidewinder. Kelly found the strangest ones at gas stations and weird places normal people didn’t look twice at, let alone shop at. 

There was one across the rollbar on top, written in upside down letters, “If you can read this, turn me back over.” Nick smiled and shook his head at one that read, "Massachusetts bumpah stickah (for the cah)." Kelly bought that one when they were out with Sidewinder, the guys had spent the evening making fun of Nick’s Massachusetts’ accent. 

Others were just very Kelly like "Surf Colorado," which was hilarious since the state was landlocked. Or "If you don't talk to your cat about catnip, who will?" and "I don't have a short attention span, I just... Oh, look a squirrel!" those made Nick chuckle. Then there was the POW/MIA sticker, like the one Ty had on his now deceased Bronco, that took up a space on the space behind the driver’s side door. On the opposite side of the car was a Devil Doc logo. 

Nick swallowed heavily. What Nick needed was something to help him calm down while he came to terms with the fact that he had fucked up with Kelly. He’d known that agreeing to that stupid kiss would fuck up their friendship, but letting it escalate like it did. Nick winced. 

The one phone call they shared when Nick returned from deployment was short and to the point. Nick had called Kelly, reaching his voicemail at first, Kelly returned Nick’s call an hour later. Unfortunately, Nick was in the middle of a meeting with his boss trying to negotiate Nick’s return to work. 

After that they played phone tag until Kelly’s phone battery apparently died. Nick had been convinced that Kelly had been avoiding his calls, that he had taken the time Nick was away to reevaluate what he wanted and Nick hadn’t made it onto the list. 

Scrubbing a hand over his face Nick walked toward the side of the house, heading for the woods out back. As he was passing the porch a blur in the corner of his eye caught his attention, it was followed by a soft thump behind him. Nick spun quickly, left hand on his hip ready to pull out his knife. Instead of an attacker, Nick was greeted by Kelly’s cautious smile and his hands held up in the air. “Hey, Nick.”

When Nick’s pulse stopped racing enough for him to get a grasp on the situation, he realized Kelly must have hopped over the railing around the balcony to the ground behind him. Nick returned his smile. “Hey, Kelly.”

Kelly glanced towards the house before tugging gently on Nick’s arm. Kelly led them farther away from the front porch until they were both leaning against the side of the house, facing each other. Kelly hesitated before meeting Nick’s gaze again. “How are things?” 

“They’re good.” His own voice was quiet as he brushed a thumb over his bottom lip. “Still trying to wrap my head around the transition from there to here.” Kelly’s smile made him aware of the fact that he had been gesturing like Ty while explaining that last bit. Blushing he nodded his chin at Kelly’s stomach. “How has it been here? Did you end up healing okay?”

Kelly’s gaze grew distant for a moment and his fingers absently drifted to touch the scar on his abdomen from the bullet in Nola. “Yeah, it was rough there for a bit, but you saw that.” Nick nodded at the memory of Kelly’s struggles to heal. “It’s doing fine now. I’m almost back to 100%”

“That’s really good.” Nick’s voice was rough. Nick was still waking up from nightmares where Kelly hadn’t survived that shot. Ones that ended with Kelly dying in a New Orleans hospital bed, Nick clinging to his hand.

He blinked away the memories and looked back at Kelly. His blue-green eyes were mostly green at the moment, reflecting the color of the woods around them. There were a few more freckles on Kelly’s nose, ones Kelly insisted he didn’t have, but every summer Nick had known him they had come back like clockwork. The tips of Kelly’s brown hair had been bleached by the summer sun; the muscles he had complained about losing during his recovery were back and more wiry than before.

All Nick could think about with Kelly right here in front of him again, despite the fact that he could hear the rest of Sidewinder working on reinforcing the broken back door, was pulling Kelly into his arms and kissing him. 

Nick looked away, into the tree line beside them and swallowed hard. There had to be a way that they could move on from Kelly’s experimenting after Nola without losing their years of friendship. It had happened before with Ty, where something had happened and Nick was cut off for a year or a few weeks without contact. Nick didn’t want to have to go through that again, but if that’s what Kelly needed for his own piece of mind Nick would do it.

“Do you still want to fuck me, Nick?”

Nick’s head snapped back to look at Kelly’s. Nick’s breath caught in his chest and he felt his eyes growing wide. For a few moments Nick studied Kelly’s face, trying to determine if he had heard the question correctly. If Kelly had meant what he asked. Once he realized that Kelly was serious his heart skipped a beat. 

One corner of Nick’s mouth perked up and he pinned Kelly down with a predatory stare. “Yeah, I definitely still want to fuck you.” Nick sucked in a breath as Kelly licked his lips.

“Well, what are you waiting for?” Kelly whispered back, his gaze heated.

Barely a heartbeat passed before they rushed at each other. Nick’s fingers slipped into Kelly’s hair as their mouths met and they both moaned. They stood there like that for a few minutes, clinging to each other as they reacquainted themselves with each others mouths. Their lips, tongues and fingers dancing against each other in desperation.

It was only when Kelly gasped and threw his head back Nick realized Kelly had hopped up, wrapped his legs around Nick’s waist, and was now pressed between them against the wall of the house. Nick groaned as he nipped at Kelly’s throat. 

Nick had only meant to share a quick kiss before pulling Kelly off to the bedroom. There was just something about the two of them together, though. Ever since that first exploratory kiss, each touch between them had been electric and unstoppable. 

Kelly whimpered and tugged at Nick’s hair as they rutted against each other. There was no way they would make it to the bedroom at this point. That knowledge sent a thrill down Nick’s spine. With one hand Nick clutched Kelly’s ass, pulling his body closer. Nick used his other hand to trace a line up Kelly’s torso. Leaning in Nick pressed his nose into Kelly’s cheek. “Fucking missed you, Kels.” Kelly groaned. The hand that had been tracing Kelly’s body came to a rest as Nick gently wrapped his fingers around Kelly’s throat. Their hips thrust together, cocks pushing against each other through their jeans. 

Nick watched Kelly’s face. The dueling looks of pleasure and need almost making Nick come undone. Just when he thought he wouldn’t be able to last any longer, Kelly’s teeth dug into his bottom lip. Nick watched Kelly’s eyes roll into the back of his head, his whole body tensed and jerked against Nick’s as he came. _Fuck, that’s hot_. 

Nick continued rocking against him, as soon as Kelly released his lip, Nick pressed their mouths together. With a swipe of his tongue, Nick soothed the swollen lip Kelly had bit into. A moment later an involuntary shout escaped from Nick’s mouth into Kelly’s as his orgasm overwhelmed him.

They melted into each other, bodies warm and pliant in the cocoon of limbs they were tangled in. Nuzzling against one another, they exchanged slow, sucking kisses and murmured against each others lips. Nick’s stomach clenched. He tried not to think about meanings or labels at the moment, choosing to bask in the warmth and comfort of the man in his arms.

A crash from the back of the house made Nick tense and drop his left hand to his hip again as he turned his head to look at the source of the noise. Ty stood at the mouth of the backyard, jaw dropped and eyes wide as he stared at them. _Shit_. 

Kelly grinned as he slid down Nick’s body. “Uh, I would say ‘it’s not what it looks like,’ but it totally was.” 

Nick closed his eyes before giving Kelly a disapproving glare for that comment. Kelly ignored him, continuing to stare at Ty who was having trouble deciding whether to keep his mouth opened or closed. Eventually Ty settled on gesturing at them in a very typical to Ty ‘what the fuck’ motion before letting his arms flop at his sides.

_Well, this could have happened in a better way_. Nick glanced at Kelly, meeting his apprehensive eyes. Nick knew behind Kelly’s always cheerful mask he was just as anxious as Nick about losing his Sidewinder family if this all went south. Nick wrapped a reassuring arm around Kelly’s shoulders, soothing him with gentle strokes of his thumb. 

Looking back, Ty was still staring at them in disbelief. “Ty, you okay man?” Nick’s voice was calm, despite his nerves being on edge.

Ty snorted softly, closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Hey, Garrett!” Kelly shouted towards the backyard. “I think we broke your boyfriend!”

_Goddammit_.

Zane rushed around the corner of the house. His jaw muscles were tense, eyes darting around to assess the situation. When they came to rest on Ty, his brow furrowed. Zane glanced at Nick with a raised eyebrow. Nick lifted one shoulder in reply. Looking back at Ty, Zane cautiously placed a hand on his shoulder. “Ty, what’s wrong?”

Ty’s hand fell from his face. He looked back up at Nick and Kelly. Nick could tell Ty was dancing that fine line between losing his shit and brushing off whatever was frustrating him. Finally, Ty opened his mouth like he was going to say something, but ended up closing it again with a shake of his head.

Kelly giggled. _Not helping, Kels_. Nick jabbed him gently in the ribs.

Ty turned to look at Zane, pinning him down with his trademark, ‘I don’t like something and you need to fix it’ gaze. Nick groaned softly. _Here we go_.

“They’re _fucking_ , Zane.” Ty flailed at them, a sure sign that he had tipped over into a full blown, angry caps lock rage. Nick rolled his eyes and pulled Kelly a little closer. “They’re FUCKING _EACH OTHER_!”

Zane nodded while Ty lost his shit, looking completely unworried by Ty’s outburst. For a few moments Zane stood there, quietly processing the information Ty had given him, translating crazy into sense. 

Nick and Zane had bonded after Nola, staying up late, chatting over text messages about zombies and other geeky things while Ty was still in Nola and Kelly slept. Nick hoped that Zane would react positively to what he had just learned. He was a good barometer for Ty’s future stance on difficult subjects.

Finally, Zane looked up at Nick and Kelly. They both tensed under his gaze, holding in breath.

“So, you two are together now?”

Nick hesitated, he wasn’t entirely sure of the answer to that question himself. “Yeah, I suppose so.”

Zane nodded. Ty was changing color while he stared at the back of Zane’s head. 

Zane stepped forward, left hand extended towards Nick and Kelly. “Congrats, you guys.” Nick released the breath he was unconsciously holding and shook Zane’s hand. The three of them exchanged relieved smiles. Nick quickly kissed the top of Kelly’s head and blinked away the burn in his eyes.

“Are you FUCKING _KIDDING_ ME?” Nick flinched at Ty’s outburst. The three of them turned to look at Ty, who was pacing and flailing as he continued to rant. Nick’s chest felt tight. “How? Why? When? What?” 

“You forgot ‘where’ and ‘who.’” Kelly said playfully.

Kelly giggled next to Nick, but Nick’s eyes followed Ty’s movements. This was the most worked up Ty was towards something Nick did in a long time. The last time Ty had blown up like this he didn’t talk to Nick for a year. The sense of dread building in Nick soured his stomach.

Kelly’s fingers stroking soothingly against his chest brought Nick out of the haze of painful memories. Nick looked down at Kelly, who cracked a half smile. “Hey, my jeans are all sticky, so I’m going to go inside and change.” Nick laughed. Kelly had always been able to find a way to cheer him up or calm him down. It had been that way since they first met. Nick was lucky to have Kelly in his life, even if they did return to just being friends at some point in the future. Nick didn’t try to analyze why that thought made his chest ache. 

“Mine are too. I’ll be up in a second.”

They exchanged a quick kiss that took Nick’s breath away. When Kelly pulled back from the kiss he gave Nick a questioning glance, silently asking if he would be okay. Nick nodded and Kelly ducked out from under Nick’s arm, letting Nick’s fingers trail down his back. Nick watched him walk back to the house.

“I hate you assholes so much.” 

Nick flinched again and turned to face Ty, who was staring into the tree line, expressionless with hands on his hips. Nick opened his mouth to say something, anything, to Ty, but Zane’s hand landed on Nick’s shoulder. When Nick glanced at Zane gave him a sympathetic smile, shook his head and held up a finger, silently telling Nick to wait a minute. Nick nodded and watched Zane walk over to Ty’s side.

Swallowing deeply, Nick shifted in his increasingly uncomfortable jeans. Ty dropped his arms and Zane placed a hand on Ty’s waist. They spoke to each other in clipped, hushed tones. After a pointed look from Zane, Ty’s shoulders dropped slightly and he looked at Nick. Nick knew that expression well, unfortunately, it said that Ty was at a complete loss for words. Which, for someone like Ty who could always find more reasons to talk, meant he was beyond his personal limit for dealing with someone’s bullshit.

“Look,” Zane held up his hands, signaling to Ty that he should calm down, when Ty snapped his attention towards Zane’s voice. “You two need to talk this out.”

“Garrett!” Digger came around the corner. “Come on, we don’t want to have to find the ladder. Get back here and help fix the door.”

“You’re the one that broke the damn thing.”

“Your boyfriend told us to, therefore, your fault.” Digger frowned and looked at Ty, then Nick. “They fighting again?”

“No, we’re not fighting again.” Ty growled.

“Right.” Digger nodded slowly. “Garrett, take it from me. It’s best to just let them yell at each other for a while. They’ll figure it out soon enough.”

Zane turned back to Ty and opened his mouth to say something. “Go with Digger,” Ty interrupted. “We won’t kill each other.”

They looked at each other for a few moments, silently communicating, after one last glance in Nick’s direction, Zane followed Digger into the backyard. Nick watched as they disappeared around the corner of the house. 

Once they were gone Nick looked back at Ty, who had turned back to look into the tree line. The evening light was fading from red to purple, shadows in the forest began blending together. Silence stretched out, making the minutes pass like miles between them. 

Nick wasn’t even sure what to say to Ty once the silence was broken. He didn’t know what was going on between Kelly and him anymore than Ty did at this point. They hadn’t exactly had a chance to talk it all out before Ty had come crashing around the corner. 

Finally, Nick worked up the nerve to at least try to say something. “Ty, look, I’m sorry you had to see that.” Nick said hesitantly as he walked closer to Ty. “That’s not how you should have found out.”

Ty snorted and whirled around to face Nick. “Is _that_ what happened after Nola?” Ty waved a hand at the spot on the wall where Nick and Kelly had been kissing. “What the _fuck,_ Nick?”

“Yes, that’s what happened.” Nick rubbed the back of his neck, trying to ease the tension building in his muscles.

“Kelly is straight.” Ty growled as he stepped forward to look Nick in the eye. “How the fuck did he end up in your bed?” Nick clenched his teeth, he knew better than to try and have a rational, calm conversation when Ty was in a mood like this. “What did you do, O’Flaherty?” Ty’s eyes danced back and forth as he studied Nick’s face. “Were you in love with him all these years, too?”

“No,” Nick shook his head. “I never looked at Kelly that way until after Nola.”

Ty’s eyes narrowed and he wiped a hand over his mouth, looking away briefly before meeting Nick’s eyes again. “Was it because he was drugged up?” Nick’s eyes widened, blinking slowly at Ty as he tried to make sure he had heard the question correctly. 

“Excuse me?”

“Did you start fucking him because he was drugged up?”

Nick’s fist connected with Ty’s jaw, knocking him to the ground, before Nick even knew he was preparing to punch Ty. Nick stared at Ty, fists clenched, fighting to keep his breathing even. Ty looked up at him, swiping blood from the corner of his mouth with his thumb. “I can’t believe you would accuse me of something like that.” Nick said through gritted teeth.

“Yeah, well, you’ve been acting weird since Nola.” Ty got off the ground and dusted himself off. “I had to be sure.”

“Kelly almost died saving my life, Ty,” Nick shouted. “How the fuck am I supposed to be after that?”

“So now you’re fucking him as a payment for saving you, is that it?”

Nick grabbed Ty by the shirt and slammed him into the side of the house. Nick leaned in until they were almost nose to nose. “Don’t ever accuse me of raping Kelly or taking advantage of him ever again.” Nick hissed. “Do you understand me, Grady?”

“Fine,” Ty snapped. “Then explain to me what happened. How did you and Kelly end up in bed together?”

Nick dropped his hands and took a step back. Staring at Ty, Nick clenched his teeth, trying to bite back the temper boiling under his skin. When he was calm enough to reply he took a deep breath and began. “Kelly asked me to kiss him.” Ty stared back at him for a few moments, then made a ‘go on’ gesture. “He was curious, alright? He said he noticed the connection you and Zane had in Nola.” Nick wiped a hand over his face.  “He told me things were never like that between him and his ex-wife.” Nick paused for a moment, debating just how to explain. With a sigh, he continued, “He asked me what it was like to be with a guy.”

“One day Kelly decided he was curious about playing for the other team.” Ty’s voice was incredulous. “So he asked you to kiss him? Are you fucking serious?”

“It’s Kelly,” Nick chuckled. “Yeah, that’s what happened.” Ty stared at Nick for a few moments, a smile tugging at the corners of his mouth, before losing his battle against laughter. Nick joined Ty in leaning against the side of the house as they laughed at the absurdity of the situation.

“What the hell, man? How do you go from one kiss, that Kelly demanded,” Ty gestured at the wall again. “To that?”

“It was a good kiss.” Nick blushed.

Ty snorted. “So, you’re dating now?”

Nick tilted his head. “We’re… I don’t know. We care about each other and have a lot of chemistry. Beyond that?” he shrugged. “We haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“What were you thinking getting involved with a friend like that, man?”

“What were you thinking when you decided to fall in love with your partner?”

“Touché.”

Nick swallowed hard and stared into the tree line, watching as the trees disappeared into darkness in the fading light. “He makes me happy.” Nick said quietly. “Kelly reminds me that life can be fun, you know?” Silence stretched between them again. 

When Nick finally convinced himself to look up, Ty was studying him intently. “Holy shit. You’re falling in love with Doc.” Ty said, wide eyed. 

Nick’s world came to a grinding halt as he stared back at Ty. Unable to find the words or even traces of thoughts to answer Ty’s question, Nick fought to breathe. When he came back to himself, Nick was sitting on the ground, back against the house, head tucked between his knees. Ty’s hand was reassuring on his shoulder, Ty’s soothing voice telling him to take deep breaths. 

Once Ty seemed satisfied that Nick had calmed down, he laughed quietly, “I’ll take that as a yes.”

“No, I’m not. There’s no way I’m falling in love with him.” Nick’s voice was raw. “I told you. We haven’t figured anything out yet.”

Ty smiled at him politely and nodded. Nick stared at him, pulse hammering out a drum line through his body.

“You guys are still out here?” Kelly’s voice coming from the front of the house made Nick jump. “What are you two bitches doing? Braiding each other’s hair and talking about boys?”

Nick threw Kelly a glare over his shoulder as he struggled not to laugh. Ty was practically gasping from laughing so hard next to him.

“We’ll be inside in a minute.” Nick prodded Ty in the ribs as they got off the ground. “Did you find your charger yet?” Kelly cleared his throat and shifted uncomfortably. “Well?”

“Garrett found it.” Kelly bounced a little from one foot to the other.

Nick squinted at him before exchanging a confused look with Ty.

“Where did Garrett find your charger?”

“In the freezer,” Kelly’s words blended together in excitement or embarrassment after that. “He was grabbing ice for his drink and found it behind the frozen yogurt. Weird, huh?”

Nick pinched the bridge of his nose. Ty was covering his mouth with one hand and leaning into Nick, shaking violently with laughter. “How did your cell phone charger end up in the freezer?”

Kelly shrugged dramatically. “Fuck if I know.”

Ty cackled loudly, arms wrapped around his stomach while he convulsed. “Shut up, Tyler.” Nick muttered at him, which only made Ty laugh harder. Nick walked over to Kelly, wrapped an arm around his waist and pulled him in for a kiss. 

“Goddammit, do I have to watch you two make out now?”

“No one is forcing you, Grady.” Kelly spoke the words against Nick’s lips, sending a shiver down Nick’s spine. They shared another kiss before turning to look at Ty.

“You know you guys have to tell Digger and Owen?” Ty said, suddenly serious.

“We’ll do it tomorrow. Let’s just try to pretend we can make it one night, with everyone together, without starting a fight.” Nick pleaded quietly.

Nodding in agreement they made their way to the front of the house. Nick and Kelly still had their arms wrapped around each others waists as they walked. Nick could tell Ty was doing his best not to look at them together. 

Just before they reached the front porch Kelly spun to stand in front of Nick, before Nick had time to react, Kelly grabbed him by the front of his shirt and pulled him down for a hungry kiss. Tightening his arms around Kelly’s waist, Nick pulled Kelly closer until their bodies were pressed tightly together.

For the second time that evening everything in Nick’s world stopped. He no longer worried whether Ty was watching them, or what would happen if Digger and Owen came out onto the porch right then. Kelly was back in his arms and he wanted Nick enough to risk backlash from their Sidewinder family if they were discovered locking lips, again. The realization warmed something in Nick, brought out feelings he had never experienced, ones he didn’t have a name for. 

When their lips finally parted Nick’s fingers were threaded in Kelly’s hair and Kelly’s hands were clutching at Nick’s biceps. They pressed their foreheads together, brushing noses, trying to catch their breath. 

“You two do realize that you have a room you’re sharing tonight. It’s right upstairs.” Ty groaned. “Do you seriously need to fuck on the side of the house again?”

“I already told you, Ty. No one is making you watch.” Kelly responded with an impish grin. “And it’s my house.”


	2. Chapter 2

When Zane entered the guest bedroom he found Ty sitting on the edge of the bed, elbows on his knees, staring into the distance. When the door opened, Ty glanced at Zane and gave him a weary smile before looking away again. Zane could make out faint worry lines etched on Ty’s face and a blossoming bruise on the right side of his mouth. 

Frowning, Zane made his way to the bed and sat down next to Ty. Their arms brushed together and after a few moments Ty leaned against Zane, left cheek against Zane’s shoulder.

Zane couldn’t wrap his head around Ty’s reaction to Nick and Kelly being together. Sure, Ty had walked in on them sharing a private moment against Kelly’s house, but that didn’t explain Ty’s complete breakdown over it. 

Zane was genuinely happy for Nick and Kelly. Not just because Nick had been in love with Ty for years and finally seemed to be moving on, though that was part of it. Zane had suspected there was something different between the two of them from phone calls he shared with each of them after Nola and while Sidewinder were deployed. The way each of them changed their tone when speaking about the other had been pretty telling, even if Zane hadn’t been able to figure out the reasoning behind it.

Nuzzling against Ty’s head, Zane wondered if Ty had lied to him about his feelings for Nick. Jealousy was one of the reasons Zane kept coming back to when trying to explain Ty’s actions. It was the answer that hurt Zane the most, but he had to know, especially now that they were making a point to be more honest with each other. Zane murmured against Ty’s hair, "So, how did it go with Nick?"

Ty sighed. "Well, it could have gone worse."

"I noticed that you have a bruised cheek,” Zane stroked Ty’s bruised face gently with his finger. “But Nick seemed unharmed."

"I deserved it," Ty hummed sadly and sat up. "I suggested that he got Kelly into bed because Kelly was drugged up during his recovery." 

Zane stared back at him, dumbfounded. Ty winced and rubbed his bruised jaw. "Wait, are you saying that you accused him of taking advantage of Kelly?" Ty nodded, avoiding Zane’s eyes. "Is that something you think O'Flaherty would actually do?" Zane frowned. He had never gotten that impression from Nick, but Ty had known him a lot longer than Zane had.

"No, I knew that wasn't what happened.” Ty waved a hand. “Nick isn't that kind of person,” Ty snorted softly. “And even injured, Kelly would have knocked Nick on his ass if he didn't want to kiss Nick. Bastard's scrappy." 

"Then what the hell made you say that?"

"I was testing a theory," Ty tucked his tongue between his teeth and looked at Zane. "I could tell they had feelings for each other by the way they were standing after I found them on the side of the house. Hell, I could tell when they were wrapped around each other like spider monkeys." Ty shook his head and stared out the window into the late summer night. "What I couldn't see, was if Nick realized he had those feelings for Kelly, if he was in it emotionally as well as physically. Nick has always been the sort to avoid heavy emotions for the people he’s involved with. So, I tested him."

Zane scrubbed a hand over his face and groaned. "Baby, we need to work on your people skills. You can't keep going around testing your friends like that."

"I know."

Gesturing at Ty’s cheek, Zane asked, “I’m guessing he passed your little test?”

Ty nodded. “He still denies that he has real, deep feelings for Kelly, beyond the fact that Kelly makes him happy, but yeah. He passed.”

Zane sighed and kissed Ty softly on the cheek.

They moved to lean against the headboard, feet outstretched and legs intertwined on the bed. Ty rested his head on Zane’s shoulder and curled an arm around Zane’s waist. Zane buried his nose in Ty’s hair, inhaling his scent and basking in the feel of having the man he loved back in his arms. It had been a rough year for them, but they were better for it. Despite all of the time they spent apart and the harsh words they exchanged, Zane wouldn’t change a moment of it now that he knew how they had each grown because of it.

On some levels, Zane was even glad his proposal had been interrupted by Nick’s call all those months ago. The revelations they shared in New Orleans would have been much more painful and harder to bounce back from if they had just gotten engaged. One day, Zane would probably get down on one knee and ask Ty to marry him, for real and without interruptions, but until then Zane was happy just having his lover back.

Lifting his head, Zane cleared his throat and asked, “Are you going to tell me the real reason you’re upset about Nick and Kelly now?”

Ty frowned, “What do you mean?”

“Ty, you didn’t lose the ability to speak just to test their commitment to each other. What’s really going on?” Zane swallowed hard. “Are you jealous?”

“Jealous,” Ty propped himself up and met Zane’s eyes. “Why would I be jealous? I have you.”

“Nick was in love with you for years. Now he’s moving on and you react like that,” Zane gestured towards the window. “You seemed jealous.” Ty started to reply, but Zane held up a hand. “Don’t just react, think about it,” he pleaded quietly. “Are you jealous that Nick is moving on?” With a rough voice, he continued, “Do you have feelings for him?”

Zane watched Ty as emotions ghosted across his face. Confusion, embarrassment, guilt, frustration, before finally resting on a frown. Zane’s heart stuttered and he looked away. Blinking at the tears forming in his eyes, he felt Ty shift on the bed, Zane couldn’t look at him. After having his suspicions all but confirmed by Ty’s evasive expressions, Zane’s whole world tilted on its axis. 

“Look at me.” Ty’s voice was calm and it set Zane’s nerves on edge. He continued to stare into the distance, refusing to turn. “Goddammit,” Ty growled before climbing into Zane’s lap. He grabbed Zane by the hair and forced their eyes to meet. “I’m. Not. Jealous.” Ty stared into Zane’s eyes, the glittering green and gold dancing in the light from the lamp, before he slammed their mouths together, clacking teeth and bruising lips with the force of the kiss. When Ty pulled away, he growled, pleadingly, against Zane’s lips, “I love _you_ , dammit.” Zane moaned agreeably as they kissed again and his world snapped back into place. 

Digging fingers into Ty’s ass, Zane pulled him forward until their erections ground against each other. They needed this, Zane needed this. Hands pulled at shirts and pants, fighting to bring them closer to skin on skin without disturbing their devouring kiss. Once they were naked, Ty rolled his hips on Zane’s lap, making him gasp. Gripping Ty’s hips, Zane thrust up into Ty’s movements. Zane’s head fell back as Ty began to grind against him harder. 

Between panting breaths, Zane grabbed Ty by the hair and growled, “Either get inside me or get on me, but quit teasing.”

Ty’s eyelids fluttered and he scrambled for Zane’s kit to grab their bottle of lube. Zane stroked himself while he watched Ty move. His muscles were harder, leaner and more tanned than they had been before his deployment. Whatever shape Ty came in, Zane loved every inch of him. The sight of Ty naked and horny for Zane never failed to turn him on.

With a triumphant, “Found it!” Ty waggled the bottle of lube in the air, before slinking across the bed again and crawling back into Zane’s lap. Ty leaned in for a slow, deep kiss. Zane hummed happily against his lips, running his hands up and down Ty’s back. 

Popping the cap on the lube, Ty coated a couple of his fingers, getting them ready to prep himself. Ty sat up, within moments he was gasping and moaning into Zane’s mouth as Ty thrust back on his own hand. Zane lubed a couple of his own fingers, leaning forward, he wrapped an arm around Ty and worked his fingers in alongside Ty’s. Pressing his forehead against Zane’s cheek, Ty cried out helplessly as he rode their fingers.

Zane swallowed hard as their fingers thrust together, sometimes slow and gentle, other times hard and quick. The noises Ty was making were unlike any Zane had heard from Ty since they’d returned from playing Del and Corbin on their Christmas cruise. A sudden flood of memories from that trip added to Zane’s desire.

“Baby,” Ty gasped against Zane’s cheek. “Are you ready for a ride?”

Zane groaned and gritted his teeth to keep from cumming at the very idea of Ty riding him right then. Unable to find the words to answer he nodded and removed his fingers. With a cursory swipe of lube, Ty straddled Zane’s cock and lowered himself slowly. They both moaned long and loud, the other guests in Kelly’s house entirely forgotten as they lost themselves in each other. Once fully seated Ty gasped and moaned again as he rolled his hips. 

Zane traced down Ty’s chest with his fingertips, never taking his eyes off Ty’s face. Heavy eyelids partially obscured Ty’s hazel eyes, which were mostly black and brown from arousal. Ty’s teeth dug into his bottom lip as Ty lifted himself up until Zane’s cock was almost all the way out of him. Meeting Zane’s eyes one more time, Ty slammed himself back down. It was Zane’s turn to gasp and bite his lip to keep from calling out in pleasure.

Ty rode him slowly, making sure to drag Zane’s cock along every nerve and bump inside his body while he moved. Zane wrapped his arms around Ty’s back, bending him backwards, so he could lick up the sweat beading on Ty’s chest. Ty growled and began moving faster, fucking himself in earnest on Zane’s cock. Pulling Ty closer, Zane leaned back against the headboard, and began pushing upwards to meet Ty’s thrusts. They stared into each others eyes as they chased their pleasure. 

Zane would never get over how much he loved this man. Every other experience in his life paled in comparison to those he shared with Ty.

Reaching between them, Zane wrapped a hand around Ty’s cock. He whispered against Ty’s lips as he stroked him, “Let me see you cum for me, baby.” Ty cried out, tugging Zane closer for a brutal kiss as he came between them. Groaning into the kiss Zane continued to stroke him while Ty used Zane’s cock to draw out his orgasm. Finally, Ty melted against him and Zane rolled them until Ty was on his back under Zane. 

Zane petted at Ty’s chest while they kissed. Hitching one of Ty’s legs up over his elbow, Zane thrust into him, drawing more debauched moans from Ty with each roll of his hips. Ty’s fingers worked their way into Zane’s hair, holding him close. Ty bit into Zane’s bottom lip and swiping over it with his tongue. A surprised growl escaped from Zane’s throat and his orgasm caught up to him as he thrust into Ty one last time. 

Zane pulled out and rolled off Ty carefully, before collapsing next to him on the bed. 

Ty giggled sleepily next to Zane as he cleaned them up with a t-shirt, “Now that you’re all worn out, are you ready to listen to me?” Zane grunted in agreement and rolled to watch Ty stretch out on the bed like a cat. Once settled, Ty began twirling his fingers in Zane’s hair, the motion was calming for both of them. Finally, Ty cleared his throat, with an unsteady voice he said, “I’m not jealous of Nick and Kelly. I’m… scared for them.”

“Scared?” Zane frowned.

Ty licked his lips and nodded. “They’re two of my best friends, I’ve known them for almost twenty years.” Smiling sadly, Ty tilted his head continuing to twist his fingers in Zane’s hair. “I’m scared for them because Nick’s a whore and Kelly’s impulsive. Did you know that Nick’s the same age as me and he’s never had a relationship that lasted longer than a handful of weeks?” Zane watched as Ty bit his lip and glanced away. “And Kelly. He got married only a few months after meeting his wife, seven months later they were going through a nasty divorce. Like, burning his possessions on the front lawn, kind of nasty.”

“Holy shit.”

“Nick helped him rescue his crap from the fire and let him crash on the boat until Kelly bought this place.”

Zane rolled again, wrapping an arm around Ty’s waist and resting his chin on Ty’s stomach. “You’re worried they’re going to hurt each other?” 

Ty nodded.

“You’re such a romantic.” Zane smiled at him and nuzzled against Ty’s stomach, making Ty laugh and twitch as Zane’s stubble tickled the sensitive skin. Humming affectionately against Ty’s skin, Zane rubbed his cheek against him one last time. 

Reaching across Ty, Zane turned off the light and grabbed the blanket from the foot of the bed, using it to cover them both while he burrowed against Ty’s shoulder. Ty kissed Zane’s forehead and pulled Zane closer, wrapping his arms around Zane until they were both pressed tightly together. 

They snuggled for a few more minutes before Zane spoke up again. “Did you suspect that something was going on between them?” Zane asked cautiously.

Ty hummed sleepily. “No, I thought they might have had a big fight, but I didn’t suspect they were fucking.” Zane snorted. “Did you?”

“The thought had crossed my mind. I didn’t think it was likely, but yeah, I suspected they were fucking.”

“Seriously?”

Zane nodded against Ty’s shoulder. “When I talked to Nick after Nola he seemed normal. When he came out here to Colorado with Kelly, something seemed off with him. Not in a bad way, but he seemed happier than I’d heard him before. You know?” Ty grunted noncommittally. “At first I thought, ‘Kelly must be doing better.’ When Kelly’s recovery got complicated Nick sounded really worried, scared even.”

“When did Kelly’s recovery get complicated?”

Zane frowned. “Nick didn’t call you guys about that?” Ty’s head shook in the darkness, Zane felt it more than saw it. “That’s weird, though I did have to badger him about how Kelly was doing, especially when I noticed he sounded more scared than happy. It was, maybe, two weeks before you came home? There was an infection or something, Nick wouldn’t give me all the details. Kelly got through it pretty quickly though, I guess.”

“Nick and I need to have a word about keeping secrets from the team.”

Zane laughed before he could stop himself. “Baby, I’m not sure you’re the person that needs to be leading that discussion.”

Ty thumped his knuckles against Zane’s shoulder, “Asshole.”

“You love me,” Zane murmured against Ty’s mouth as he leaned in for a kiss.

“I do, even if you are an asshole.” They laughed and snuggled closer together. Zane reveled in the ability to lay here with Ty. After spending months apart during Ty’s deployment it was simply amazing to have Ty in his arms again. “So, Nick sounding happy that Kelly was recovering and worried when his recovery got set back made you think they were fucking?”

“No, it wasn’t until you were all away on deployment and I talked to Kelly that I started to suspect that. Initially, I thought they’d gotten into a fight before Nick left and Kelly was worried that whatever nasty things were said would be the last things said between them.” Zane brushed his fingertips along Ty’s cheek, thankful he’d returned to Zane safely and that they’d had a couple days together before Ty was deployed. Ty kissed his palm and Zane swallowed against the tears forming in his eyes. “After a month or so I figured out he was just worried, about the whole team, but especially Nick. That’s when I started thinking about the way they talked about each other, how it reminded me of us in the beginning, when we were both trying to deny how we felt. I didn’t honestly believe they were fucking, but I’m not surprised by it.”

“I still think it’s unnatural.” Ty groaned, Zane scoffed at him. “Sidewinder is my family, it’s weird to see two of them together like that.”

“So, on one hand you’re worried that they’ll hurt each other and on the other you think it’s icky that they’re together.”

“I am not a six year old girl. I don’t say words like, ‘icky.’”

“Now you’re just being picky.”

“Stop it.” Ty sighed. “Yes, I’m worried and I think it’s weird that they’re together.”

“Was that so hard?”

“Yes, it nearly killed me.”

“Poor baby.”

“I hate you.”

“You love me.”

Ty growled before pressing his nose into Zane’s cheek. “I do.”

“I love you too,” Zane murmured as he leaned into Ty’s touch. “Do me a favor?”

“Anything.”

“Watch them together this weekend. Try to forget about their pasts and just see how they are together. I think they seem really happy and your approval would mean the world to them.”

Leaning back to look at Zane’s face in the dimness of the room, Ty whispered, “It means that much to you?”

Zane shrugged. “Nick and I have become friends, but I don’t really know Kelly that well. I think it would mean a lot to you, though. If they were able to try for a happy and healthy relationship with each other, instead of going through a nasty breakup, because they were more worried about how you guys felt than how they were feeling.”

Ty was quiet for long enough that Zane wondered if he had fallen asleep. Eventually Ty exhaled loudly, “Damnit, I hate when you have good ideas.”

“You’ll try to be understanding and not judgmental?”

“Yes.”

“Good, now let’s get some sleep.” Ty snorted and curled closer to Zane, snuggling into his neck. Zane kissed his temple as Ty’s breathing evened out, “Goodnight, baby.” Within a few quiet minutes Zane drifted off to sleep, comforted by the warmth and scent of the man he loved.

 

* * *

 

Purple, early morning light filled the room when Zane woke. His internal clock was two hours ahead of Colorado, whereas Ty’s was still screwed up from his deployment. Quietly, Zane slipped out of the bed, smiling to himself when Ty immediately snatched Zane’s pillow, clutching it tightly as he burrowed back under the blankets. Leaving Ty to sleep, Zane dressed quickly and crept out of the guest room in search of coffee.

Once downstairs, Zane could hear Digger and Owen talking quietly in the kitchen. Zane hesitated for a moment and strained to listen to the voices, trying to decide if it was a conversation he wanted to risk interrupting. 

During the chaos of the ill-fated Nola trip, Zane had gotten to know most of Sidewinder. But Owen Johns was someone Zane hadn’t found the chance to connect with. Zane still felt the urge to kick Owen’s ass for the way he reacted to Ty coming out, even though he now had a better understanding of Owen’s feelings about Ty keeping big secrets.

Zane thought about returning upstairs to bed, but quickly dismissed the idea. Ty needed rest and Zane needed coffee. There was also the added probability that Ty would see him returning to bed as his way of avoiding the Sidewinder boys, which would make Ty feel obligated to chaperon Zane back down the stairs. Zane didn’t want that to happen.

Zane had just begun to contemplate sitting on Kelly's porch for a while, when his thoughts were interrupted.

"That you, Garrett?" Digger's heavily accented voice called to him from the kitchen.

Quietly cursing himself for standing in the hallway for so long, Zane verbalized a confirmation and made his way into the room. 

Digger moved around efficiently, pulling bowls and spices out of cupboards and the fridge. Owen was seated at the dining room table, hands folded around a coffee mug. In spite of the early hour, he was already dressed in a white button up shirt with sleeves rolled up to his elbows, an expensive looking pair of dark wash jeans and a pair of black dress boots that Digger had harassed him for the day before. 

Zane knew that all of Sidewinder had spent more than their fair share of time in dirt. He wasn't sure if it was the years of dress uniforms or as a way of balancing out the dirt in their pasts, but they all enjoyed dressing up when given the opportunity. Except for Kelly, he didn't seem to give a fuck about his clothing. Owen, on the other hand, didn't really seem to understand the idea of casual clothing after wearing suits at work for so long.

“There’s fresh coffee in the maker over there,” Owen said, with a gesture of his hand, after they’d all exchanged greetings. “It’s good coffee too. Not the weird chicory shit this bastard likes.”

Digger pelted Owen with a spoon and pointed at him threateningly for a moment. Owen merely ducked out of the spoon’s way and sipped his coffee with a smile. “Grady tells us you’re learning how to cook,” Digger said cheerfully. “You like Beignets?”

Zane nodded while he poured himself a cup of coffee. “Yeah, they’re good. Nick had me try some while we were in Nola.”

Digger rubbed his hands together, the glint in his eye made Zane slightly nervous. “Cool, you get to help me make breakfast.” Digger pointed at Owen. “That one isn’t allowed to cook anything, can’t even use a microwave.”

“Seriously?” Zane asked.

Owen laughed. “It’s true. I can’t cook at all.” 

Zane stared at him for a second, frowning as he sipped his coffee. Eventually, Zane shrugged and drank the last of his coffee. “Sounds like a plan.”

Digger filled a pot with cooking oil and placed it on the stove to boil. He whisked a couple of eggs in a bowl while instructing Zane on when and how much sugar and vanilla to add to the mixture. They continued that way, mixing in the rest of the dry ingredients, until the forming batter resembled biscuit dough. Zane dusted part of the counter, that Digger had already cleaned, with flour and they rolled out the dough.

“Now, you want to cut the pieces into two inch squares.” Digger explained as he handed Zane one of the knives from Kelly’s kitchen knife set. “About four fingers tall and another four wide is close enough.”

Zane nodded as he carefully sliced into the dough. In the months that had passed since Nola, and especially after Ty’s deployment, Zane had really lost himself in the simple joy of cooking. Cutting vegetables helped to drown out the silence in the empty row house. Having to focus on mixing certain ingredients just so kept his mind from dwelling on the fact that Ty wasn’t there with him. Complicated cooking instructions made it impossible for Zane to get caught up in the ache in his chest on the days when missing Ty hurt the most. 

When no one from the office or Ty’s family were in the house helping to dispel the silence, Zane played audio books through the living room speakers. He also played every season of his favorite television shows on repeat, every movie he could find, he’d shuffled through their music collections and had started to delve into recordings of stand-up comedy routines.

None of that really made the need for Ty to come home lessen, but sometimes it did make it easier to stand.

Zane blinked slowly when he realized he had finished cutting all of the squares for the Beignets and was now staring at the dough blankly. He turned to look at Digger who smiled back at Zane sympathetically and clapped him on the shoulder. “Alright, let me show you how to fry these up.”

Digger was showing Zane how the Beignets changed to a golden brown as you fried them, when Owen’s phone rang. “This is Johns.” Owen paused for a minute before speaking again, in a gentler tone. “Riley, hey. Give me one second, okay?” Owen tucked the phone against his shoulder, grabbed his coffee and walked across the kitchen. He grabbed a plate, two fresh Beignets, applied a liberal application of powdered sugar to them and ducked out Kelly’s front door before continuing his conversation.

Zane and Digger exchanged confused looks. “What the hell was that?” Zane asked.

Digger shrugged. “I guess he found himself a girlfriend that actually passed all the paranoid security questions and background check. Weird.” Digger helped himself to a plate of Beignets and sat down at the kitchen table while Zane continued frying. “How has Grady been sleeping?”

“Ty has been sleeping a lot, actually.” Zane said as he scooped one of the golden Beignets from the hot oil onto a plate covered in paper towel so it could drain. “Neither of us got much sleep the first night.”

“Man, I don’t need to hear about that.”

Zane laughed. “He had nightmares the first couple nights when he finally did sleep, but since then he’s been okay. Just sleeping a lot, trying to cope with jetlag and stress.”

Digger looked at Zane thoughtfully. “He’s only had a couple nightmares since getting back and he’s actually sleeping through the night?”

Zane nodded. “Yeah, I mean at first he was sleeping through the afternoon, but he seems to be sleeping through the night now. Why?”

“You’re good for him,” Digger said with a smile. “Ty always had a hard time adjusting back to regular life after deployment. To hear that he’s finally doing okay because of you? That’s awesome.”

“You think that’s because of me?” Zane asked.

“What’s because of you?” Nick asked as he came into the kitchen and began pouring himself coffee.

“Ty sleeping better and adjusting better after coming back from deployment.” Zane replied.

Nick watched Zane over the rim of his mug as he drank his first few sips. “Of course it is,” he explained with a smile when he lowered the mug. “You’re like his teddy bear. Fighting away the nightmares and giving him something solid to anchor himself to when he isn’t sure where he is.”

Zane was just about to ask Nick if he knew Ty called Zane his anchor, when Owen came back into the kitchen. “Digger, come on. We need to get to the hardware store so we can replace Kelly’s back door.”

Nick perked up, his expression serious. “You guys didn’t get the door fixed last night?”

“We did,” Digger explained. “But the fucker is too flimsy. We’re heading into the city to buy him one that’s more solid and not as easy to kick through.” Owen nodded in agreement.

“You guys do his home improvements for him? Can’t he just buy a new door himself?” Zane asked.

Owen giggled. “Abbott is,” Owen trailed off, tilting his head back and forth like he was deciding how to explain Kelly. “Absent minded. Even if he did get all the way into the city, to the hardware store and managed to buy a door. It would probably be the first one he saw.”

“Or yellow,” Digger added with a laugh.

Owen nodded, “Or yellow. And then even if he got it all the way home the chances of him actually installing it instead of just leaning it against the side of the house are, just, none. There are no chances of that.”

Nick chuckled and gestured at the kitchen window with his coffee mug. “He broke those blinds about six months after buying this house and has yet to replace them. He’s lived here almost ten years now. But there they sit, cockeyed in the window.”

“Living with him and Ty in the same house was a nightmare.” Owen muttered. Nick and Digger nodded emphatically.

“What made it so bad?”

“One time Kelly ‘cleaned,’” Owen’s fingers made air quotes. “A spoon by licking it and sticking it back in the drawer.”

“He left food and drinks out all the time. Milk glasses half full, freshly poured soup in a bowl on the kitchen counter. He just forgets things.” Digger explained.

“Oh! He always wore shoes on the couch.” Owen said excitedly.

“Wow, yeah. I do not envy you guys for dealing with that dynamic.” Zane said, silently wondering to himself how the Ty he knew had managed not to throttle Kelly within an inch of his life.

“Like Ty said, being absentminded is all part of Doc’s charm.” Nick said. 

Nick’s ears were a little pink and he wore a sheepish smile while he talked. Zane really hoped Ty would take his advice and just watch the way Nick and Kelly interacted this weekend. It was obvious the two of them were falling hard for each other. Nick met Zane’s eyes, silently pleading with Zane to change the subject of the conversation. 

Zane nodded slightly at Nick and turned to Digger, who was still sharing Kelly stories with Owen at the table. “What do I do with these dough scraps? Should I roll them again and make more?”

“No,” Digger said dramatically. Owen chuckled. “Just cut them up and fry them as they are. If you roll them they’ll get too tough to eat, like pie crust pieces. You know?”

Zane smiled, remembering Mara Grady’s kitchen and her cinnamon sugar pie crust rolls from the first time Zane had visited West Virginia. “Yeah, I know exactly what you mean.”

Digger and Owen left in search of a new back door for Kelly’s house. Zane asked how they were going to bring the actual door home, but they assured him they would be able to tie it to the top of the SUV somehow. Nick signaled to Zane not to ask about it, so Zane just nodded and waved to them as they left the house.

 

* * *

 

Nick shuffled away from the window after waving goodbye. He rinsed out his coffee mug and looked thoughtfully at the growing pile of Beignets Zane had already cooked. Nick rubbed the back of his neck and moved across the kitchen to dig through Kelly’s fridge before he had a chance to second-guess his actions.

“You and Kelly, huh?” Zane’s voice broke through Nick’s concentration.

Nick grunted in agreement and studiously ignored the weight of Zane’s gaze on him. 

“Ty told me about what he said to you last night.”

Nick bit his lip and swallowed against the sudden burn in his throat. “I can understand why he was suspicious. I think I would have done the same thing.” Nick knew his reputation, even among the guys in Sidewinder. He was hurt that Ty had believed that of him, but he wasn’t really surprised. 

“No you wouldn’t. He was being an asshole and you were right to punch him for it.” Zane folded his arms and leaned against the counter next to Nick. “If there is one hard lesson I learned about Ty, it’s that he’s impulsive when he needs to make an emotional decision. When it relates to something that really matters to him or someone he loves, he doesn’t think things through, just jumps in with both feet.” Zane smiled and his expression went distant, like he was lost in a memory. “But, even when he does incredibly stupid, hurtful things, like accusing you of taking advantage of Kelly or spying on me for years and then lying about it, it all comes from the heart. However, he is a dick for what he said to you.”

Nick smiled. “Thanks, Garrett.”

“Anytime. Now will you please tell me what the hell you are making that requires,” Zane picked up a bag from the counter and read the label. “Coconut flour, eggs, applesauce and M&Ms?”

Laughing Nick took the bag of coconut flour back from Zane. “Pancakes, actually. Kelly has this thing for weird hippie, health food.”

Zane raised an eyebrow. “M&Ms are health food now?”

“Apparently,” Nick said with a snort as he finished mixing the batter.

"When did you learn to make coconut pancakes, which are hard as fuck to make, without a recipe anyway?"

Nick blushed. "It was a few months after you and Ty drug me into your troubles with the CIA."

"Blame Ty for that." Zane said immediately. 

Nick grinned at him. "Anyway, I called Kelly for one of our weekly chats."

"I think it's awesome that you all keep up with each other like that."

"It can be useful." Nick said with a nod. "Especially when there is fighting going on between some of us, we still get updates from the other guys." Nick stared blankly into the cabinet where he was trying to find Kelly's skillet. "What the hell was I talking about?”

“Pancakes.”

“Right. Stop interrupting me, unless you don't want to hear the story."

"I want to hear it."

"When I called Kelly that day he was angry about something. Which was weird. I'm sure you even know him well enough by now to know that the bastard usually can't stay angry for more than five minutes at a time. Turns out he was trying to make coconut flour pancakes, but he couldn't get them right.” Nick chewed on his bottom lip as he finally found the skillet he’d been looking for. “Over the next few weeks we ended up trying to make the pancakes over and over again on Skype. I was able to master them, but he gave up and uses almond flour instead in the pancakes he makes." Nick looked at Zane who was staring back at him, eyes gleaming and lips pressed together. "What?"

"You spent a month making pancakes over webcam chats with your boyfriend." 

Nick gaped at him. "No, this thing between Kelly and I wasn't going on back then. We were just friends learning a new skill together."

"Did he ever master making them with coconut flour?"

"Not really. They're not as bad as he thinks they are, but no."

Zane’s grin reminded Nick of Ty’s gleeful smile, the one Ty wore when he had just gotten a terribly destructive idea. "So, you've been gone for months. Yet, when you come back from deployment there is an unopened, recently purchased from the looks of it, bag of coconut flour in Kelly’s fridge. A type of flour that Kelly doesn’t normally use. Like he was waiting for you to come here and make him pancakes."

Nick blinked at him and swallowed. 

Zane laughed. “I think it’s sweet how you’re making your new boyfriend ‘I’ve missed you and I’m sorry for being a moody bitch when I got here’ pancakes.” Zane said as he returned to fry another batch of Beignets.

“What? How was I being a moody bitch? He was the one that lost his phone charger in the fucking freezer, of all places. I’m making these because he likes them more than Beignets.” Nick scoffed. “And he’s not my boyfriend. ”

“Uh-huh. And I’m not down here making Beignets to apologize for dragging Ty half way across the country when he should be at home sleeping.”

“No, you’re making Beignets because Digger didn’t want to finish making them for a house full of people. He practically ran out the door as soon as his were done.” Nick paused for a moment before adding. “Shut up.”

“How long have you and Kelly been not boyfriends, anyway?”

“I think I liked you better when you wanted to punch me every time you saw me.” Zane laughed loudly. Nick bit back a smile while he poured the pancake batter into the heated skillet. Nick cleared his throat as he watched the heating circles of batter bubble. "A couple weeks after Nola. I came here to help him recover and one day he started asking all these questions about what it was like to have sex with a guy, if dating a guy was different, all of that. Then he asked me to kiss him, wouldn't shut up about it until I gave in. So, I did."

"I'm guessing the kiss was better than you planned it to be?"

Nick's pulse picked up speed as he remembered that first kiss. He cleared his throat and said, "Uh, yeah, you could say that."

"At least you two liked each other before you started sleeping together. Ty and I did it backwards."

"Seriously?"

"Oh yeah, we hated each other. It got to the point where we were fighting so much, like beer bottle breaking and slamming each other into walls in a dark alley fighting, that something had to change in order to kill the tension between us. Our first kiss was choosing the fucking over the fighting."

“Huh, that actually makes a lot of sense. When did you guys start liking each other?”

“After the car bomb in New York, when Ty had that concussion.”

“I fucking _knew_ it was your car that blew up. Lying bastard.” Nick frowned. “That was you that answered the phone when I called him then?”

“If you were the, and I quote ‘ex-Recon boy’ that was ‘mothering him to death’ that called while Ty was concussed, then yes.”

“That little bastard. Gimme his plate, I’m spitting in his food.”

Zane just laughed and moved the Beignets out of Nick’s reach. “Let’s go wake them up so that Ty can eat the Beignets I lovingly made for him and Kelly can enjoy the completely love-free pancakes you made for him.”

“Seriously, I am beginning to hate you.”

 

* * *

 

“Rise and shine, princess!” Nick’s voice crashed through Kelly’s dream as the blanket he was snuggled in was unceremoniously yanked away.

Kelly sat up, snatching at the blanket in Nick’s hands. “Asshole, what the fuck do you want?”

Nick grinned maniacally and tossed the blanket to the floor. “You have guests and you slept almost all of yesterday.”

“Those jackasses do not count as guests,” he grumbled. “And I did not sleep all day yesterday.”

“Get up and eat your fucking food or you will not be laid for the rest of the weekend. How’s that?”

Kelly squinted at Nick who was staring back at him with raised eyebrows, hands on his hips. “Fine.”

Five minutes later they entered the kitchen and Nick steered Kelly by the shoulders into a chair at the table, grumbling that Kelly should “Sit and stay.” Kelly watched Nick move across the kitchen, pulling a foil covered plate out of the oven where it had obviously been keeping warm. This wasn’t the first time Kelly had watched Nick move around in his kitchen, but it settled something in him to see Nick navigate the drawers and cupboards without having to ask where anything was stored.

Nick walked back to the table with a plate of pancakes smeared with different artificial candy colors. There was a tug in his chest as he was reminded of the times Nick had cooked the same pancakes for him while Kelly was recovering after Nola. Nick insisted he wasn’t a romantic, by any stretch, but Kelly knew better.

Kelly’s lips quirked. “I see I already have you bitch-whipped.”

Nick stopped, raised an eyebrow and pulled the plate back from where he had been about to lay it down in front of Kelly. “These can go in the trash. Doesn’t matter to me.”

Kelly flailed at the plate. “No, I’m kidding. Kidding.”

“You sure? Maybe there are some squirrels outside that would appreciate some M&M pancakes, because it doesn’t seem that you do.”

“I am positive there is no wildlife outside of this house that would appreciate those pancakes more than I do.” Kelly flailed at the plate again and Nick laughed. Kelly hooked his fingers into Nick’s waistband. “I’ll blow you for them.”

Nick inhaled sharply, his green eyes turned predatory. He put the plate on the table and leaned in until his lips grazed Kelly’s ear. “Eat your food.” Nick nipped his ear. Kelly groaned, shivered and nodded.

“For fuck’s sake,” Ty growled as he walked in the room. “It is too early to see your foreplay in the middle of the fucking kitchen.”

“I don’t know, sometimes the kitchen is a good place for that.” Zane pointed out. “There was this one time-”

“No!” Ty and Nick shouted simultaneously.

“Come on, it was just getting to the good part. Garrett, what were you saying?” Kelly asked, earning him a glare from Nick and Ty and a grin from Zane.

Ty scrubbed a hand over his face before taking his first sip of coffee. “I still can’t believe you two are seriously together.”

“Ty.” Zane scolded.

Kelly watched Nick walk further into the kitchen, ignoring Ty’s comments, while he dished up a plate of Beignets for himself. It had taken Kelly about an hour to get Nick worked up enough to finally tell him how the conversation with Ty had gone after Kelly left. Nick had been forced to pin Kelly to the bed until he promised not to go downstairs to the guest bedroom to kick Ty’s ass. Kelly still wasn’t sure it was the best thing to agree with, but he’d rather have Ty annoyed with him than Nick. 

Ty’s jaw muscles ticked and his eyes flicked from Nick to Kelly and back. “Is it serious between you two?” Ty asked finally.

Kelly threw his hands in the air. “Okay, Ty, you win. I was going to wait to tell you when everyone else was here, but since you’re so impatient to hear the news.” Nick spun on his heels and stared at Kelly, brow furrowed, Kelly winked at him. “You can be in the wedding, alright? But you’re not my maid of honor, I’m sorry. Zane is already in love with his dress and there is just not time to change shit like that around.”

Nick made a strangled sound. Zane managed to pluck the coffee mug out of Ty’s hand before Ty dropped it. Zane smirked at Kelly. “I’ve been meaning to ask you. Are you dead set on the pink frilly one? I’m just not sure it’s my color.”

“It comes in blue.”

“Blue could work.”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Ty shouted at no one in particular. He spun around to start shouting at Nick, waving a finger in his face. “You’re getting married?”

“Yeah, Ty. He’s my baby mama and we’re going to have a shotgun wedding.” Nick deadpanned.

Kelly couldn’t hold back the deluge of giggles after that. “Jesus Grady, you’re such an idiot sometimes.”

Ty growled and turned to glare at Zane who had joined Kelly in giggling. “You’ve got to admit, it was funny.” Ty kept glaring until Zane kissed his cheek and murmured in his ear. When Zane pulled back Ty wore a small smile. “Come on, drink your coffee and eat your Beignets. It’ll help you feel human again.”

“Asshole.”

Nick shook his head and threw what was supposed to be a glare, the effect was ruined by the quirk in his lips, at Kelly. “Why am I the baby mama, anyway?” Kelly asked Nick as he got closer.

“Do I really need to draw you a diagram to explain that?” Nick asked as he sat next to Kelly at the table. 

Kelly tilted his head, confused for a moment. Then his ears heated when he finally understood. “Ah, never mind then.”

Nick’s leg nudged against Kelly’s beneath the table. “Eat your pancakes, Kels.” Kelly smiled warmly, nudged Nick’s leg back and dug into his pancakes. 

“Why are we eating Beignets, anyway?” Ty asked between large bites of the pastry. His lips were coated in powdered sugar and he stopped eating every few bits to lick his fingers clean. Kelly was amused to see that Zane watched Ty’s sloppy feast with a smirk and raised eyebrow, but he refrained from poking fun at his partner. 

“Digger offered to teach me how to make them.” Zane shrugged. “And you said they were your favorite so I figured I should learn.” Ty smiled warmly at Zane.

“What he means is that Digger conned him into making them and left right after his were finished.” Nick added and Ty laughed. Kelly noticed that Nick managed not to wear as much of the powdered sugar on his Beignets as Ty did. While Nick was distracted, Kelly snatched a piece from Nick’s plate and stuffed it in his mouth before Nick turned around again. “Did you just steal my Beignet?” The piece was a little too large for Kelly to speak around, so he tried to look innocent and shrugged. Nick’s eyes narrowed and he leaned in, one hand holding the back of Kelly’s neck firmly.  “Are you trying to get in trouble this morning, Kels?”

Kelly managed not to squirm in his chair when he thought about the way Nick reacted to Kelly causing trouble. He swallowed the last of the Beignet and licked his lips. “Maybe.” Kelly shifted until their mouths brushed against each other. “You look like you could use some stress relief.” They kissed and Nick licked the powdered sugar on Kelly’s bottom lip. 

Kelly was very proud that he didn’t whimper or climb into Nick’s lap at that point. He really could learn restraint. Possibly. He also didn’t drop to his knees and start clawing at Nick’s fly, but that was just because he was enjoying the kiss. Not because he actually cared that Ty and Zane were still sitting at the table with them. They could leave the room if they didn’t want to watch. 

Nick pulled back and Kelly chose to ignore the pitiful sound that escaped from his mouth at Nick’s retreat. 

Kelly glanced at Ty who had his face in his hands, elbows on the table. Zane sat next to him, chuckling and drinking the last of his coffee. 

“Have they stopped yet? Did it get worse? Does anyone have eye bleach? That’s a thing right? It has to be.” Ty whined.

Zane snorted. “It’s not that bad. They’re kind of cute together.”

Ty groaned and shook his head in his hands.

“Like Kelly said, Ty. You don’t have to watch.” Nick added with a laugh. His hand was still holding the back of Kelly’s neck, thumb rubbing small circles into Kelly’s skin. 

Kelly really wanted to pounce Nick or at least drag him upstairs. They were going to have words about Nick’s bright idea to bring the guys along on this trip, because that was some bullshit. Not that he didn’t love the Sidewinder guys, or like Garrett, but he needed to get laid. A lot. Like, yesterday. Rubbing off on each other after dinner and bedtime blowjobs last night weren’t enough.

In order to distract himself from thoughts of blowing Nick here at his dining room table, witnesses be damned, Kelly decided to increase his chances that Nick wouldn’t decide to revoke his getting laid privileges by talking. He waved a hand between Nick and Ty. “You two need to hug it out, it’s weird when you’re fighting.”

“We’re not fighting.” Ty said gruffly, raising his face from his hands.

“Yeah, that’s why you have a bruise on your cheek and Nick was grouchy last night?”

“I wasn’t grouchy.” Nick said.

“You sure? You look a little grouchy right now. See your face does that thing when you’re grouchy.”

“I agree, I think you two should hug it out.” Zane added. Earning him a glare from Nick and Ty. “You’ll both feel better.” Nick and Ty both rolled their eyes and pushed away from the table. They stood in the kitchen together, but neither moved or said anything. “Go on, apologize.” Zane said to Ty with a wave of his hand. Ty snorted and looked back at Nick.

“I’m sorry. What I said was way out of line and I’m an asshole. Forgive me?” Ty said, looking legitimately apologetic.

Nick nodded. “It was out of line and you were being an asshole, but I do forgive you.”

“Tell them why you said what you did.” Zane encouraged.

Ty rolled his eyes and fidgeted in place. “Look, you’re both my friends. Some of my best friends and I don’t want to see either of you hurt. I wanted to be sure that you guys weren’t just fucking, because you know that would only end in pain and fire.”

“Are you saying that was a test?” Nick asked. Ty nodded. “Dude, that’s fucked up.”

“That’s what I told him.” Zane said.

“I may have overacted and panicked a little bit.” Ty said.

“You’re so broken, man. Garrett, how do you even deal with him?” Kelly asked. Zane just laughed and watched Ty with warm eyes. Kelly waved his hands at Nick and Ty again. “Make with the hugging, bitches. We don’t have all day to watch you two make sad eyes at each other over Ty being an idiot, again.”

Ty glared at him briefly and Nick rolled his eyes. Then they hugged, talking quietly to each other while doing so. Kelly expected to feel jealous seeing boyfriend, or at least guy he was having sex with regularly, hug someone he’d been in love with for nearly twenty years. The jealousy didn’t come though. Maybe because Nick didn’t have on any of the expressions he used to have when dealing with Ty in the past. Or because Ty and Zane were so obviously in love with each other. 

Kelly wondered idly when they would be getting a call about the two of them getting married. He was fairly positive it would happen, it was just a matter of when at this point. Kelly only felt a little bit of melancholy when he thought about what it would be like to have the sort of love that Ty and Zane had together. 

When Nick and Ty finally stepped away from their hug Kelly bounced across the room to Nick’s side.

“See, that wasn’t so bad. Now we just need to tell Digger and Owen, which will be a piece of cake.” The three men in the kitchen turned to look at Kelly like he was crazy, but he swallowed away the nerves and continued to smile with a confidence he didn’t actually feel.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This scene was never posted because the chapter it was supposed to go with never got finished. I do still like the scene though, so here is Digger and Owen finding out about Nick & Kelly.

After breakfast, the four of them gathered on Kelly’s back deck. Nick propped his feet up on the railing next to where Kelly was sitting  with his feet kicking back and forth as they dangled almost a foot off the ground. He nudged Kelly’s hip with his foot and Kelly threw him a grin before returning to the story he was telling Zane about some of the pranks Sidewinder played on each other when they were deployed in the past. Every once in a while Ty would interject with his own version of how things happened. 

Nick laughed in the appropriate places, but he didn’t add anything to the conversation. They had just returned from spending months upon months in hell, the thought of reminiscing over it didn’t appeal to him. 

He leaned back in his chair and stared aimlessly into the trees surrounding Kelly’s backyard. Even though it was nearly mid-day, the ground was still covered in shadows, the dense trees keeping the sun at bay. While he felt the most comfortable on his boat somewhere in the middle of the ocean with no one around for miles, there was something to be said for the peace of being in the forest.

The conversation droned on around him. 

When Kelly wasn’t actively talking with his hands, he let one of them rest on Nick’s leg. Nick wasn't usually the sort to go for public displays of affection in relationships, or relationships at all, but with Kelly it was easy to touch and not care who saw or what they were thinking. Even with the underlying stress of wondering how Owen and Digger would react to them being together, nothing seemed to penetrate the level of calm he and Kelly had together.

Ty’s laughter grabbed his attention. Nick watched him wave his hands in the air as he explained to Zane how they’d once narrowly escaped getting thrown in the brig for duct taping a recruit to a wall after he’d pissed Nick off. Nick laughed, that had almost been worth getting in trouble for.

It was good to see Ty relaxing like that. He’d been tense all through their deployment. Though he’d tried to keep his thoughts to himself, it’d been obvious to Nick that Ty had missed Zane desperately.

He glanced at Kelly where he was still perched on the railing. His blue-green eyes were alight with mirth and his body shook as he was rocked with giggles. Nick’s breath caught in his chest. Maybe he knew exactly how Ty had felt.

Commotion from the side of the house interrupted Nick’s train of thought. He and Kelly leaned over the railing to look at the source of the noise. Owen and Digger were each holding an end of Kelly’s new back door. Owen was somehow trapped against the outer wall of the house. 

“Motherfucker, quit using the door to push me into the wall,” Owen shouted at Digger, who was staring back at him with a too-blank-to-be-innocent expression.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about. You’re the one that can’t walk in a straight line. Do we need Irish to give you a field sobriety test?”

Owen glared at him and pushed the door enough to get away from the wall.

“How the hell did you guys get anything done in Recon?” Zane asked.

“Luck, duct tape, and safe words,” Kelly responded immediately.

Ty laughed and Zane looked at Nick in confusion. Nick shrugged. “That’s pretty close to the truth, actually.”

Owen and Digger finally made it around the corner of the house to the deck without killing each other. Nick watched Owen and Digger in amusement while they fought over who would put their end of the door down first. That led to an argument and Owen dramatically dropping his end without warning, forcing Digger to flail in an attempt to keep the door steady. Eventually the door ended up resting against the deck.

Digger waved as he settled onto one of the chairs on the deck. “What’s up, guys?”

“Dicks and airplanes,” Kelly said immediately, before cocking his head and frowning. “Why do you guys have a door?”

Owen jerked a thumb in Digger’s direction. “Because that jackass broke your last one.”

“I thought you guys fixed it. It’s hanging right there.” Kelly waved at the back door.

“It’s flimsy, way too easy to break into.” Digger said with a shake of his head.

Ty giggled in his chair, his head falling onto Zane’s shoulder. Zane looked at him in confusion. 

“You okay, Ty?”

Ty nodded and tried to school his features. “Doc has a flimsy back door.” 

Zane snorted.

“What I want to know is how you’ve owned this house for this many years and you never got around to getting better doors.” Owen said. His arms were folded across his chest and he had Kelly pinned down with a concerned frown.

“Yeah Kels. Why is your back door so flimsy?” Nick asked, fighting to keep a straight face.

“Is that a sex question?” Kelly shot back.

“Oh, is it time for that already?” Digger asked with a grin while rubbing his hands together.

Owen nodded. “You’re right, Digger. It is time.” He looked from Kelly to Nick and tilted his head. “How long have you two been fucking?”

Nick’s eyes widened and he felt the Beignets from breakfast sour in his stomach. Before he had a chance to deny or distract from the question Kelly hopped off the railing and turned to stand in front of Owen, squaring his shoulders and planting his feet as he met Owen’s gaze.

“It was a few weeks after Nola. When Nick came back here to help me recover from nearly dying.” Kelly replied. His voice was calm, but Nick could see his muscles loosening in preparation for a fight. “And before you ask, it was my idea in the first place. Any more questions?”

Owen’s jaw muscles ticked and he held Kelly’s gaze. Nick leaned forward, preparing to jump in if Owen reacted the way he had when Ty came out. 

“Dammit,” Owen said, almost under his breath.

Digger laughed and pumped a fist in the air. “You owe me fifty bucks, bitch.” He held out his palm and made ‘gimme’ motions at Owen.

Owen glared at him, but pulled out his money clip and pealed off a few bills. He folded them and held them between two fingers over his shoulder. Digger gleefully snatched the bills and waved them in the air.

“Can someone explain to me what the fuck just happened?” Ty growled.

“Owen and I had a bet about when Nick and Kelly started fucking. He lost the bet and now he’s pouting.” Digger said with a shrug as he tucked his winnings into his wallet.

Ty pointed at Owen. “Why aren’t you pissed off at them for fucking guys like you were with me?”

Owen rolled his eyes. “Please, that was years ago.”

“Two. It was two years ago and you were still mad at me in Nola.”

“Semantics,” Owen said with a wave of his hand.

“Since you lost, what was your guess?” Zane asked.

“I thought they’d started fucking before Nola.” Owen shrugged.

“What?” Nick and Ty asked in unison.

"You two seemed to pair up in a different way in Nola. Running around together, practically snuggling in the police station, and all that. Digger and I talked about it while we were deployed. He said you came out the same night Ty did and I figured something had changed between you and Doc."

"Nothing was different in Nola. We weren't fucking then." Nick said.

"Don't lie, Irish. You wanted to sex me up, get a piece of my hot body." Kelly said with a grin.

Nick rolled his eyes.

Owen waved a hand between Nick and Ty. “Did you two ever sleep together?”

Ty glared at Owen. “No, we didn’t.”

“No,” Nick said with a sad smile. “I wanted to, for years. But, we would have been terrible together.”

“It worked out better this way,” Kelly said after nudging Nick’s leg with his foot. “I don't think Ty would have let you throw him around like you do with me.”

Zane choked out a laugh, earning him a glare from Ty.

“Seriously, Kels?” Nick growled. 

Kelly beamed back at him while the others complained loudly about needing to erase the last few minutes from their memories. Nick smiled back and shook his head. 

In some ways it was embarrassing to know that their teammates—and Zane—knew they were sleeping together. Nick was surprised by the lightness in his shoulders as he settled back into his chair, listening to his closest friends laugh and spin tales like they hadn’t just learned something so life-changing and personal. 


End file.
